1. INAC Water and Wastewater: Discussion on Current Policies and Processes
Presented at: Circuit Rider Trainer Professional Association’s Annual General Meeting
August 23, 2017 – 8:30 to 10:30 AM

2. Purpose
Provide an update on recent developments in improving water and wastewater infrastructure on reserve
Highlight key upcoming priorities
Discuss and get your technical perspectives on how existing policies and guidelines on water and wastewater could be improved

3. Background
Budget 2016 – Investment of $1.8 billion over five years ( to ) to improve on-reserve water and wastewater infrastructure by:
addressing health and safety needs
ensuring proper facility operation and maintenance
ending all long-term drinking water advisories (LT-DWAs) affecting public systems financially supported by INAC by 2021
Percentage of First Nation drinking water and wastewater systems with low risk ratings increased from 27% to 56% for water systems and from 35% to 45% for wastewater systems between 2011 and 2015–2016.
Investments made in amounted to approximately $274.5 million for capacity building and training, operations and maintenance, capital infrastructure and long-term drinking water advisories.
So far, Budget 2016’s investments have resulted in 241 projects in 186 communities, serving over 221,000 people.
Since forming government, 26 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted.
While new drinking water advisories (DWAs), including Long-Term DWAs, continue to occur, INAC continues to prioritize efforts and investments to eliminate all Long-Term DWAs by 2021.
Budget 2017 invests an additional $4 billion over 10 years to build and improve water systems and other community infrastructure priorities.

4. Priorities – Focusing on Long Term Sustainability of Water and Wastewater Systems
Continuing to implement Budget 2016 and 2017 investments and ending all LT-DWAs by 2021
Providing funding and advice regarding: planning, procurement, design, construction, commissioning, upgrading and operation & maintenance of water treatment facilities on First Nation reserves
Providing financial support for the training and certification of operators
Developing a long-term strategy and ensuring the appropriate policy tools are in place to implement it
Developing, updating and interpreting INAC’s water and wastewater policies and associated tools
Collaboration with internal and external partners such as Health Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada
Managing relationship with the Circuit Rider Trainer Professional Association
On-going tracking and reporting on the status of water and wastewater assets and INAC’s progress in meeting objectives
Promoting and identifying innovative approaches

5. Water and Wastewater Systems Policy Suite
Water and wastewater systems protocols
Protocol for Safe Drinking Water in First Nations Communities
Protocol for Centralized Drinking Water Systems in First Nations Communities
Protocol for Decentralised Water and Wastewater Systems in First Nations Communities
Water and wastewater management guidelines
Design Guidelines for First Nations Water Works
Maintenance Management Plan for Drinking Water and Wastewater Systems in First Nations Communities
First Nations On-reserve Source Water Protection Plan
Emergency Response Plan for Drinking Water Systems in First Nations Communities
Emergency Response Plan for Wastewater Systems in First Nations Communities

6. Discussion: Longer-Term Sustainability of Water and Wastewater Systems On-Reserve
1) Effectiveness of existing policies and guidelines on water and wastewater systems
Does the existing suite of INAC policies and guidelines support effectively the work of operators and trainers?
How often are the policies and guidelines used by trainers and operators? How helpful are they during inspections?
How can the policy suite be improved?
Are there particular polices or guidelines that need to be updated?
What role could the Circuit Rider Trainers play in supporting a more effective policy framework?

7. Discussion: Longer-Term Sustainability of Water and Wastewater Systems On-Reserve
Putting in place the best system to meet community’s needs
What criteria should be considered when determining what system would address best the community’s needs?
Are these factors reflected in the current policy suite?
Do the current guidelines pose a barrier to the eligibility of certain systems?
Are there any real life examples of how these policies are working well or situations that they have presented a barrier to the community’s management of water and wastewater infrastructure?

8. Discussion: Longer-Term Sustainability of Water and Wastewater Systems On-Reserve
Operator recruitment and retention
What are some strategies that can be used to help address operator recruitment and retention challenges?
Are there any regional models of success that can be replicated? As well, what level of certification is appropriate?
What are your thoughts on the challenges associated with allocating operator resources to small and/or remote communities?
Do you have suggestions for addressing the wage gap; difficulty in operator recruitment; justifying full-time operators; difficulty in pulling operators off-site for training, etc?
What is the most useful and informative way to track statistical trends related to operator retention? What would be the most meaningful indicators of retention?

9. Discussion: Longer-Term Sustainability of Water and Wastewater Systems On-Reserve
4) Influence over delivery of water services
What is your experience in influencing Chiefs, Councils, and operators without enforceable standards or guidelines to fall back on? What can be done about it in their absence?
How do you build trust in the communities? Is there a role for INAC to play in this, or is this best managed outside of the department?
Is there a role for Tribal Councils to play in the delivery of water services? Can they be used to aggregate support to communities, perhaps by hiring operators that can provide excess capacity? Would this duplicate or complement what is being done by Circuit Riders?